Audit 2002 - Survey

This year’s study was considerably different than those conducted in previous years. It was designed to probe not only larger environmental mindsets, but also specific environmental issues currently relevant on campus and being investigated in other areas of the environment audit. Rather than using a sample of students, faculty, and staff designed to represent the population of the college, we decided to focus on a survey reaching a broad swath of the student body. In addition, questions were substantially different than those in previous years, and the survey was considerably longer. Rather than asking merely about which general issues were important on campus, or which environmental issues were important on campus or in the world at large, we asked more specific questions. These included opinions on specific actions the college could take to become more environmentally friendly, particularly in areas that were to be investigated by other areas of the audit such as energy.

Other questions were designed to help us understand student opinion and experiences with the Environmental Studies department. This was to contribute to research on greening the campus and further strengthening of the Environmental Studies program due to rising concerns over the lack of institutional support for the program. (For an example of majors’ feelings on this issue see the Mac Weekly Fall 2001 article “Environmental Studies majors seeking institutional support” at http://www.macalester.edu/weekly/ 113001/news6.html)

Knowing that previous response rates to mailed surveys range between 10 and 20%, and hoping to get a fairly large sample response, we printed 1000 total surveys. These were distributed into student SPOs using a method designed to reach approximately 50% of the student body. Surveys were first distributed to every other active (not including students who are on leave, study away, or who graduated in December) SPO box. Then, we went back and placed surveys in the empty boxes in every other row, beginning at the end of the alphabet. In other words, there was a row where every box had surveys, then a row where every other box had surveys. According to the Macalester web page, there were 1,787 students enrolled in the fall of 2001. Therefore, 1000 surveys cover about 56% of the total student body, though a higher percentage of the students currently on campus.

This survey does not present a perfect representation of the student body, and several possibilities of bias do exist. Because of the method we were using combined with the number of surveys, our surveys were somewhat skewed towards the end of the alphabet, though there is no reason to think that this affected the kinds of responses. Also, we were unlikely to, and indeed did not, get an entirely representative sample in terms of male/female or class ratios (particularly with the numbers of juniors studying abroad), but we hoped to get enough responses to cover each division.

Finally, we made no attempt to hide the fact that the research was coming from students in the Environmental Studies Department, though we did attempt to ask and/or word questions so as to reduce the possibility of bias. (See the survey, Appendix A.) Unfortunately, in some cases the wording of the question did result in responses slightly different from those we were seeking, probably due to a misunderstanding of the question. These are noted in the results of individual questions, and did not seem to be prevalent enough to affect the overall results. In addition, as my name was placed on the survey as the contact person, it is possible that people who knew me were more likely to return the surveys, thus resulting in a higher percentage of people who were familiar with the ES program.

In total, 200 surveys were returned, a 20% response rate. This was in line with previous response rates for environmental audit surveys, though somewhat higher than expected. It allowed us to look at a large sample, with responses representing a wide segment of the student body. Responses were broken down as shown in Table 1.

It should also be noted, however, that not every respondent chose to answer every question. Some skipped over a few, others appeared not to notice that there was second page. Rather than throw out all surveys that were not complete, each question is shown with the number of responses received. Therefore, each graph has a different total, and response should be looked at out of the total number for that question, not the total overall.

Table 1

Gender

Class

Male

Female

Not

Reported

Totals by

Gender

2002

17

44

1

62

2003

18

18

2

38

2004

9

34

3

46

2005

21

31

1

53

Not Reported

1

1

Totals by Class:

65

128

7

200

The following results to the different questions asked by the survey are shown below. Because of the qualitative nature of many of the questions, and the wide variety of responses, much of the data has been simplified in some way. A more complete breakdown of the responses is attached (Appendix B) to allow a fuller picture of student concerns

Question 5: What are the three most important issues that need to be addressed on campus? (430 total responses)

Ideals include the responses of multiculturalism, domestic diversity, various forms of discrimination, desire for respect and open mindedness, internationalism, and apathy/involvement. Institutional involves academic issues, tenure process, administration, funding/spending, financial aid/tuition, admissions, and communication among students/faculty/staff/administration. Environmental issues are those of environmental awareness or specific issues such as paper usage. Facilities issues include housing (the issue that makes it such a large portion of responses), computing facilities, vandalism, community/student space, hours for academic buildings, and food.

When less simplified, the data do not show a large trend towards any individual issue, except the housing crunch. The two largest concerns after that were the lack of student space and a sense of community, and concerns about discrimination. (Again, see Appendix B for a complete list of the issues put into each category, and for totals.)

Question 6: What are the three most important environmental issues that need to be addressed on campus? (437 total)

The largest responses here were, by far, paper usage and energy usage, followed by recycling and concern about all forms of waste, particularly that generated by Bon Appetit in Café Mac and the Grille. The “All Others” category includes concerns about students driving cars, campus bike friendliness and hazardous waste disposal, and one student even listed keeping the Olin-Rice wetland as an important environmental issue. A few did say that they wanted the computers set back to not double-side print, and that food service should not use recycled napkins, but in general most of the responses reflected some sense of environmental problems that needed to be solved.

Question 7: Do you pay attention to how much paper you use in computer labs? (i.e. do you double-side, reuse paper, print multiple pages on one sheet?) (198 total)

Question 7a: Would having to pay for printing more than a certain number of pages (per student, per semester) in computer labs reduce how much you print? (196 total)

Interestingly, although most students say they are paying attention to their paper usage and attempting to reduce it, they still feel that paper usage is a key issue. Also, it should be noted that, although most students said that they would use less paper if forced to pay for it, a few noted that they do not print that much, so the fee would have little effect on them. More particularly, many responses included notes saying that, even if it controls paper use, making students pay for printing is just a bad idea and should not be considered as part of a strategy to reduce paper usage.

Question 8: Should Café Mac make an effort to get local/organic produce? (200 total)

In responding to this question, many students expressed the opinion that meals are already expensive, and that organic or local food can be added without raising prices. Most seemed to feel that this option should be explored without affecting the cost of student meals, and the majority of those who were willing to pay extra were only willing to pay the minimum suggested less than one dollar per meal.

Question 9: Do you think Macalester should commit to purchasing a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources? (200 total)

Question 9a: If yes, would you be willing to pay more for this option? (183 total)

This question was asked due to its inclusion in the Talloires Declaration, as well as MPIRG’s ongoing campaign for the college to include ten percent of its energy from renewable sources. It shows that students are willing to pay some amount extra for renewable energy. Of the total who were willing to pay, about 62% were willing to pay more than $10/student, while the others were willing to pay less than $10/student.

Question 10a: If yes, do you think Macalester has done enough to implement the Talloires? (38 total)

These results are pretty self-explanatory. Most students are unaware of the Tailloires Declaration. Of those who were, many were ES majors. In addition, the overwhelming majority of students do not believe that the college has done enough to implement the Tailloires. When asked what Macalester should do to implement this agreement, most said that any action, or awareness would be helpful, as would increasing student awareness. Specific actions recommended were hiring a environmental director, promoting environmental literacy, and taking the environment into account when making decisions.

Question 14: In what ways could the ES program change to better meet your needs?

These two questions show that most students are familiar with the basics of the ES program. Many noted that they had been educated on environmental issues through friends who were majors, or majors bringing different perspectives to classes. However, these responses also show that there is a strong desire for more classes, more faculty, and more events or speakers resulting from the program. Although some students felt that the ES program was just fine as it, many others felt that the program needs greater diversity of opinions, as well as courses for non-majors, courses on specific areas, and team-taught interdisciplinary classes. Others felt the program was too geared towards science and social science students, or that it was too difficult to be a major. In general, it seems that the ES program needs to work to be more interesting, visible, and available to non-majors and the larger campus community.

Question 15: Do you think there is room for other departments to increase the environmental content in their curricula? Do you think this should happen? If so, explain briefly how.

There were some concerns expressed at this question. Many students felt that classes already attempt to cover too many topics, so that adding environmental content would have a negative impact on the overall depth of the course. Others felt that courses should only be added where they are relevant and appropriate; particularly mentioned in this were science and social science areas as possibilities for environmental addition. Others felt that all the areas where it is relevant were already incorporating environmental issues. On the other side, many students felt that environmental content should be incorporated in all areas as it touches all parts of our lives.

Question 16: Would you support the addition of an environmental diversity requirement to the current international and domestic diversity graduation requirements?

Question 16a: What if students only had to take two out of three of these requirements?

Students usually do not support adding more requirements, but they seem to be open to adding the option of an environmental diversity requirement as an option. Some however, supported simply adding the requirement to the current international and domestic diversity requirements, feeling that those were crucial as well.

Question 17: Can you name any environmental student organizations on campus?

In general, students seem not to be very aware of environmental organizations on campus. Many knew about MPIRG, probably due to its energy campaign. MULCH was also very well known. Other organizations in this case often included MECOS, which is no longer in existence, and the environmental portion of offices like the CSO, which are not precisely student organizations.

Students seem to be relatively well informed about environmental issues and willing to learn about them. Unfortunately, at least in this survey, they do not appear as top campus issues. Awareness, visibility, and lack of action seem to be the main areas where improvement is needed in campus environmentalism and the ES program.

You have been selected to participate in a survey regarding student attitudes towards various environmental issues on campus and towards the environmental studies program in general. This research is being conducted as part of the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar, and has been approved by the Institutional Review Board. The results will be compiled as part of the annual environmental audit, which will then be presented to other members of the class, posted on the Environmental Studies web site, and put into a comprehensive report on the state of the Environmental Studies program given to President McPherson. Please be assured that all responses will be completely confidential. If you would like to see the reports written from surveys in the past two years, please see the web site at http://www.macalester.edu/~envirost. Please fill out the enclosed survey and return it to the box placed in near the student SPOs, or SPO it to box #1454. We would like to have all surveys returned by April 19^th at the latest. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like more information, please contact Catherine Neuschler at x7312. Thank you very much for your time and participation.

White American
Asian American
Hispanic/Latino American
African American
Native American
International (Please give country)

5) What are the three most important issues that currently need to be addressed on campus?

6) What are the three most important environmental issues that need to be addressed on campus?

7) Do you pay attention to how much paper you use in computer labs? (i.e. do you double-side, reuse paper, print multiple pages on one sheet?)

7a) Would having to pay for printing more than a certain number of pages (per student, per semester) in computer labs reduce how much you print?

9) Do you think Macalester should commit to purchasing a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources?

10a) If yes, do you think Macalester has done enough to implement the Talloires?

10b) If you answered No to 10a, what else should Macalester do to implement the agreement?

11) Which department/programs on campus do you think is the most visible or has the best reputation?

            Yes--I’m a major!
            Somewhat—my friends are majors
            Not really
            We have an Environmental Studies department?

13a) If you are familiar with ES, do you feel that the ES program has had any impact on your educational experience at Macalester? If so, please explain.

15) Do you think there is room for other departments to increase the environmental content in their curricula? Do you think this should happen? If so, explain briefly how.

16) Would you support the addition of an environmental diversity requirement to the current international and domestic diversity graduation requirements?

16a) What if students only had to take two out of the three of these requirements?

9 Anthropology
9 Art
1 Asian Studies
17 Biology
8 Chemistry
3 Classics
1 CNAS
7 Communication Studies
12 CS
1 Dance
17 Economics
11 English
18 ES
4 French
9 Geography
5 Geology
1 German
1 HCST
5 History
13 IS
5 LAS
1 Linguistics
11 Math
2 Music
1 Neuroscience
9 Philosophy
7 Physics
17 Political Science
19 Psychology
10 Religious Studies
2 Sociology
5 Spanish
3 Theatre
15 Undecided/Unknown
2 Urban Studies
4 WGS

Ideational (83)
Multiculturalism: 22
Domestic Diversity/Support: 19
Discrimination/Segregation/-isms: 28
Respect/Open mindedness: 9
Internationalism: 2
Apathy/Involvement: 3

Administrative/Institutional (80)
Academic Issues: 12
Tenure Process: 6
Administration/Institution: 17
Funding/Spending: 22
Financial Aid/Tuition: 16
Admissions/Need-Blind Admissions: 8
Communication among groups: 9

Facilities (153)
Bandwith/Computer Facilities: 9
Vandalism: 14
Facilities: 6
Housing: 74
Sense of Community/Student Space: 37
Food: 10
Hours for offices/buildings: 3

Environmental (53)
Environmental Awareness: 21
Specific Env. Issue
(Paper, Electricity, Food provided, Consumption, Reycling): 32

Other (61)
Newspaper: 2
Drinking/Drugs/Smoking/Sex: 6
Labor Issues: 2
Current Event awareness: 2
Care/Psychological Health of Student: 2
Athletics: 3 (two for, one against)
Van Policy: 3

Safety, Humanities, image of school changing, isolation, procurement policies, too environmentally concerned, sweatshops, pedestrian safety, abortion rights, collaborate w/others, integrity of ideals, violence by our government, pretentious attitudes, quality of time outside class, embody values we say we hold, transfer students, security cutting bike locks, local wildlife assistance (squirrels), bike friendliness, longer Thanksgiving, heating, suing the school, peace between Israel and Palestine, MCSG reform, study abroad selection, too many econ majors.

Chemical Use: 6
Conservation: 4
Consumption: 10
Energy: 100
Environmental Awareness: 10
ES program: 6
Food provision/waste: 27
Gas powered carts: 2
Grounds/Green Space: 12
Apathy/Lack of Action: 4
Litter: 11
Paper Usage: 98
Recycling: 51
Talloires Implementation: 4
Water Usage: 7
Waste (general): 12
Waste (food service): 21

Also concerns about students driving cars, bike friendliness, hazardous waste disposal, keeping the Olin-Rice wetland, etc. Some students who didn’t care or wanted to un-default double sided printing, or bring back non-recycled napkins.

Question 7a: Would having to pay (over a limit) for paper reduce your usage? (196 total)

No: 26
Yes if <$10/student: 58
Yes even if >$10/student: 95
No opinion: 3
If not a tuition raise: 1

Specifically, hire an environmental director (3), promote environmental literacy, take the environment into account in decisions, buy green energy, local produce, and one who said that there is not enough support to implement it.

Anth: 2
Art: 1
Bio: 44
Chem: 8
Classics: 2
Math/CS: 16
Econ: 62
English: 4
ES: 2
Geology: 2
German: 1
History: 8
Humanities: 2
Econ: 59
Neuro: 2
Physics: 4
PoliSci: 16
Psychology: 11
Religious Studies: 4
Sciences: 3
Sociology: 2
Spanish: 1
Theatre: 2
WGS: 6

Anthropology: 2
Biology: 79
Chemistry: 8
Comm: 2
Econ: 63
English: 5
ES: 4
Geography: 1
History: 4
Humanities: 4
IS: 23
Math/CS: 10
PoliSci: 12
Psych: 35
Sciences: 3
Sociology: 3
Spanish: 1

Those who said no cited no chance to take a class, the fact that the department had to be sought out, they didn’t agree with the dept’s views, it’s too small and doesn’t deal with everyday issues, and that there needed to be lower level non-science intro courses,

Many took classes, and answers ranged from great class to worst at Mac, from affected thinking to not affecting thinking at all. Several mentioned EnviroThursday (4), others mentioned that the ES program has made them think about the issues and change their daily life (9), and a few (2) thought the ES program does the recycling on campus.

Action/Practical Application: 19
Diversity of Opinions: 3
Environmental Justice: 2
Collaborate with other Departments: 7
More (activities, classes, faculty, funding): 47
Visibility: 28

Many of these included feelings that there should be more courses for non-majors, maybe 1 or 2 credit courses, classes on specific areas such as sustainable agriculture, and that there should be team-taught interdisciplinary classes. Students also mentioned more conferences, speakers, etc. Others felt that the program is geared towards science/social science students. Some felt it was fine, some wanted it to be easier to be a major, and one felt the best way ES could change would be to give the budget to the Biology department.

Question 15: Is there room for other departments to increase environmental content? Should they? (176 total)

This is difficult to quantify. Several students felt that this was already happening where needed, and most of them felt it should be expanded only where relevant or appropriate, and that it is not appropriate for all departments. In general, there were concerns about the inclusion taking away from the core curriculum of the department. The most frequently mentioned departments for combining/adding classes were Chem, Bio, Physics, PoliSci, Econ, English, History, Sociology, Math, Anthropology, IS, Geography, Geology, Phil. Others suggested that faculty members take a seminar, perhaps especially on the environment in their field. Some students also felt that if we can put multiculturalism or women’s issues everywhere, we can do it with environmental issues, and that since they affect all areas this would be a good idea.

Question 16a: Would you support an ecological diversity requirement? (196 total)

Yes: 105
No: 81
Don’t Know: 10
16b: If 2 of 3 (187 total—of the 10 missing, 8 had said yes the first time)
Yes: 138
No: 43
Don’t Know: 6

(302 total answers, taken from 180 surveys which had something written for this question)

The True State of Environmental Mindsets of Macalester Students

By Catherine Neuschler
May 2002

The True State of Environmental Mindsets of Macalester Students

By Catherine Neuschler May 2002

By Catherine Neuschler
May 2002